A Dig to The Past
by Hime-Inu
Summary: A group of archeologists team up to uncover the secrets of the past, but what happens when they find themselves in the era they were meant to research? I/K S/M S/R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.**

**A Dig to the Past**

**Chapter 1**

**Introductions**

Tap, tap, tap, was all you could currently hear as an irritated archeologist impatiently waited for her appointment, who just so happened to be late... She checked her watch again, great now they were twenty minutes late. Kagome stood in an office which was surrounded by books neatly placed on their shelves. Her desk had plenty of papers strewn about, which she ignored as she waited...twenty-two minutes. Her stiletto heels tapped against the floor as she stood with her arms closed. Tired of just standing there she turned to her desk and started picking up the papers, sorting through them.

Finally the knock on the door she was waiting for had signaled the arrival of her clients. "Come in." She called out not stopping in her organizing.

"Why don't we have a secretary?" A familiar voice called out.

Kagome dreaded turning around. With that familiar voice it meant the same tag along partner. "You guys?" She didn't hide the disappointment from her voice.

"I have to say that outfit looks great."

Kagome crossed her arms across her chest angry. Miroku was always a pervert and it hadn't changed in the three years she'd gotten to know him. She was wearing a three quarter sleeve white collared blouse, with a black vest over it, along with a business skirt which had a slit in the back for better mobility and a pair of black heels. Her hair was currently tied in a loose bun held back with a pen, a few strands over her face.

"Quit gawking so we can get this over with."

Kagome couldn't understand how such an attractive guy like Inuyasha could be so rude and arrogant. She also couldn't believe that for over year they dated. Sure it was fun and she did like him but at the peak of their relationship she asked if he was committed enough to continue and when he couldn't answer, Kagome took it as his answer. Throughout their times together Inuyasha was often guarded and wouldn't talk about himself at all and it bothered her. Why date someone who wasn't going to open up?

She pointed to the chairs at her desk for them to have a seat and she sat in hers crossing her legs. "Alright we'll get down to it then." She pulled out some paperwork and handed them each a copy. "I've made a schedule of our dig, when we'll arrive, when we'll start and when we'll leave if nothing is found. Since your brother is the one funding this dig, if this doesn't fit in your schedule we can change it for any date that suits either of you."

"Keh, I don't give a fuck. I just want to leave soon." He said not even looking at the papers she laid out for him.

"Well I've based it on us leaving in two weeks. It should give us more than enough time to schedule our flights, a hotel when we arrive, when we get to the dig site and any other accommodations that might need to be taken care of." Kagome explained.

"Sounds good." Inuyasha said.

"I guess the only thing we have to go over is the site rules." Miroku said.

"Of course." Kagome stood up and walked over to her filing cabinet to grab some documents. "I've had contracts designed of course ruling in your favor since we're technically joining you on your dig. Basically any possessions or information found will immediately be reported to you, the credit is basically yours but our name shall be mentioned for publicity and if we happen to not find anything then you guys have the say whether we call it quits or continue on our excavation. Feel free to tell me if there's something you want changed we can draw up another contract and have it to you by tomorrow morning."

Miroku read over the contract knowing full well that Inuyasha wouldn't, that was after all why Miroku came. Inuyasha would sign anything if it got things done quickly. "This looks good, we'll get majority of the credit and profits of course." Miroku said. "It sounds like everything is in proper order and Sesshomaru would have no problems."

Kagome took the contracts after they were signed. "Here are your copies and I'll be in touch over the next two weeks as I make preparations." She stood up and shook their hands and walked with them to the exit.

"We look forward to this excavation." Miroku kissed her hand. A growl from Inuyasha had him quickly release her hand and he laughed nervously. "It's not like your dating her."

No one had known about their relationship since they were working together, not often but they knew it was coming and they didn't want it to be known. "I'll be talking to you soon then, take care." Kagome walked back to her office.

"She really is something." Miroku smiled.

"Back off of her will you." Inuyasha growled.

"Have your eye on her?"

"You could say that." Inuyasha mumbled. He wasn't happy about their breakup and as their agreement even Miroku didn't know about their relationship. It was going to be tough getting her back, but dammit he was going to try!

As Kagome had told them all the arrangements were taken care of. They had a hotel near the dig site, arrangements were made so no publicity would interrupt their work, they had transportation, tools, security, and just about everything they needed and more. She even had reports on the weather for months ahead of time as well as scheduled breaks, in case of emergency situations, there were things she prepared for that no one else had even thought of.

"I must say I'm very impressed with how you work Higurashi-san." Sesshomaru shifted in his seat looking through all of the arrangement papers Kagome had set up. "You've prepared well, this must have taken a long time to gather. I can see why your director spoke so highly of you."

"Kagome, I think we could use fewer formalities since we'll be around each other for a while and I didn't want to waste any time in getting things ready. This is the dig we've been setting up for years now." Kagome sat back in her seat.

She had worked hard like she usually did but this time was a bit different. She would be working together with one of the largest researcher's guild. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha Taiyo were brothers who were equally famous not only for their brilliance but for their good looks and money. Kagome never understood why, good looks or not she knew personally that Inuyasha was an arrogant asshole and Sesshomaru was a workaholic, if it wasn't about business he wasn't interested. Miroku Hayashi was as famous as the other two for his looks and perverseness.

"So we can begin excavating ourselves tomorrow morning?" Miroku asked.

"Yes, I have an old friend who's been there since they first began digging. Sango is the site manager who's been in charge. We'll meet her and a few of the others over dinner tonight after we've landed. We'll go over a few things and tomorrow morning we can start after we've settled into our rooms since we'll be there for a while." Kagome explained.

"How far is the hotel from the dig sight?" Miroku asked.

"About an hour, I've already arranged for a camp site to be settled when we arrive. I figured we can spend ten days at the dig site and five at the hotel for more relaxation time." Kagome opened one of her bags that were lying at her feet. "Also I've set up communication between us. The site managers will have one and any supervisors. They will be on the same frequency as us but our radios have a special function to where we can only hear each other including Sango, which can be utilized by holding the red button down when talking. The green is for everyone." She handed each one that had a specific color.

The three of them couldn't help but be impressed by the way she handled things. "If we had more workers like you we wouldn't need affiliates." Inuyasha tucked his radio away.

Kagome smiled and put them back under the seat and looked at her watch. "We should be landing within a few minutes. Dinner will be at seven which gives us three hours to accommodate ourselves into our rooms. And it is a formal gathering, no press will be present and we shouldn't be bothered by them until we contact them." She pulled some hair out of her face.

"It seems like there shouldn't be much work for us to do with you here Higurashi-san." Sesshomaru had finished reading her preparation material and put it in his briefcase. "I'm glad I decided to come after all."

"I know how busy your schedule is." Kagome smiled. "I'm glad you can see the beginning for yourself."

Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other in surprise. Was his brother actually trying to flirt? It shocked both of them. Sesshomaru had never shown interest in any woman, especially a human. Although Kagome would've have been the perfect woman it still surprised them both. Kagome had the work ethic and management skills that Sesshomaru was always looking for. Inuyasha shifted in his seat slightly angry. Of course Sesshomaru didn't know about their dating experience and even if he did it would only encourage him to pursue her.

It wasn't too long after that they landed and arrived at the hotel. "I hope these suites will accommodate your needs." A hotel staff member said as they left.

Each room was identical and had all the needs for a long term stay. The only thing that was a bit worrisome was that all the rooms were right next to or across from each other. "I suppose we'll see each other in a few hours for dinner. The dining hall is checked out to us, I'll meet you there at seven." Kagome then walked into her room.

-----*****-----

"Did you notice that Sesshomaru was trying to flirt or is it just me?" Miroku whispered to Inuyasha as they made their way downstairs to the dining hall. They were both wearing identical suits, Miroku had a purple tie and Inuyasha's was red.

"Who cares? I just want to hurry up and get out of this damn suit." Inuyasha started pulling at his shirt collar.

"We won't be here for long. Can you keep your voice down and your temper in control for a few hours?" Sesshomaru asked. He was wearing a pin stripe suit with a matching tie and white collar shirt.

"Keh." Was Inuyasha's reply as he stopped. They arrived at the dining hall and two hotel workers opened the door for them.

The room was dimly lit for a nice atmosphere with orchestra music in the background. It looked like they were the last to arrive. Inuyasha looked around to see anyone familiar and then he saw Kagome. She was beautiful he admitted. She was wearing a long red dress that fit her like a glove. Her back was completely bare and the front was a v shape that strapped around her neck. Her hair was elegantly tied up in a bun and her makeup was light but noticeable. He was starting to forget that it was over.

Kagome noticed their arrival and waved them over tapping her glass. "As you all know we're at a full go for this excavation and that our very gracious employers have decided to personally oversee our progress. So please welcome our guests." Kagome announced aloud.

"I think I speak for everyone at the Taiyo group when I say it'll be a great experience working together and I hope to accomplish great things." Sesshomaru said.

"I'll introduce you guys to a few people. This is my friend Sango who is the site manager. She's overseen everything since we started three years ago." Kagome introduced.

Miroku immediately stepped forward and grabbed the ladies hand. Of course he'd always hit on a beautiful woman. "My, you are lovely." He kissed her hand.

Sango gave Kagome an odd look. "That's Miroku." Kagome said and Sango took her hand back, she'd heard about his reputation from Kagome as well as many others.

"Thanks."

"I take it things have been going well." He asked.

"Of course in fact we've been waiting for you to arrive so we can open the entrance underground." Sango said.

"Well I'm sure things couldn't go any better."

"Will you stop flirting already? We're standing right here." Inuyasha growled.

"Umm this is Kouga. He's in charge of all the tools and is one of the main workers on the dig." Kagome introduced.

"And with your funds we've had more than enough money to get the best equipment." Kouga said. "And of course Kagome here has done more than her fair share of work."

"Thanks Kouga and this is Shippo. He's our historic researcher."

"Aren't you a little young?" Inuyasha asked.

"I skipped a few grades."

"Shippo was one of the top graduates in his class from prestigious schools and came highly recommended from his professors and previous bosses." Kagome said. "He's a bit young but he's completely professional and his knowledge trumps most twice his age. This staff was personally chosen by me and we've had no issues so far, our productivity has increased with our staff."

"Enough about work, we work hard enough as it is. Relax babe and get a drink. Tonight is about enjoying ourselves before we're consumed by work." Kouga placed an arm around her.

"Please enjoy yourselves. There are many people who are excited about your arrival." Kagome smiled and removed Kouga's arm and walked over to the bar.

"It's not like you to drink."

"Inuyasha, well every once in a while I do. I've been working a lot lately." She smiled weakly.

"You've been pretty impressive the last few weeks."

"I always work like this you just weren't involved until recently." Kagome said. "Not that you paid much attention to work."

"Well if you call work flirting."

"What?"

"Kouga when did you start dating an idiot like him?"

"I'm not dating Kouga." Kagome started to get irritated. "And what would it matter? We broke up months ago."

"If I remember right you were the one that said that."

"Can we not talk about this right now? I thought we agreed to keep this from work." Kagome sighed.

"You keep avoiding it on why you broke it off and this is the only time to bring it up." Inuyasha said.

"I've been working too much to have anything more than a friendship."

"So you didn't want to break it off?"

"Inuyasha, I can't have a relationship with someone who isn't committed and you obviously weren't. I can't juggle work and a personal life if it's not worth it."

"I didn't answer because I didn't know how to answer. I didn't want to say something stupid and fuck it up." What he said was true. Inuyasha wasn't very good with conversations like that. His frustrations and tempers usually got the best of him.

"Saying something stupid is better than saying nothing, at least you would've had a chance to fix it. I know your not good with words, you would've had a chance to say what you wanted but you chose to say nothing." Kagome explained and stood up. "I don't want to have this conversation. I'm going to bed early."

Inuyasha watched as she left and after a second or two to think he jumped up and followed after her, grabbing her arm. "What now?" She asked.

"I've had time to think about it." Inuyasha said.

"You shouldn't have needed time."

"It's hard to know what I want when you're keeping us a secret." Inuyasha said.

"I know you're prideful but we were working together." Kagome rolled her eyes. "We were supposed to be business partners not a couple."

"I want us to be together, you can't ignore me everywhere you go."

"Not when I'm working with you." She began to walk to her room again and Inuyasha grabbed her arm again and pushed her against the wall.

"You don't understand me at all do you?" Inuyasha asked and kissed her.

Kagome tried to pull away but all their memories together came flooding back at her and she couldn't stop. Of course she didn't want to break up with him but if he wasn't willing to give this relationship his all then it wasn't worth being in. Even if Inuyasha was insensitive, rude, and arrogant from time to time she always remembered her Inuyasha. The side of himself he only showed her.

"Interrupting something are we?" They pulled away from each other seeing Miroku and Sango in the hallway.

"You wouldn't have been if you'd have kept your damn mouth shut!" Inuyasha snapped. God he was going to kill him for interrupting. "Shouldn't you be flirting or something hentai?"

"I was escorting Sango to her room." Miroku said.

"More like stalking." Sango rolled her eyes.

"Well I should be getting to my room. We have to be up early to get to the site." Kagome punched in a code to the door handle to open it and said goodnight. Sango followed suit into the room next door.

"Had more than your eye on her I see."

"Shut up Miroku."

"So how long were you dating?"

"What?"

"Obviously this has been something set in motion for a while now." Miroku said. "I'm not stupid I'm just nice."

"A year but she broke it off. She thought I wasn't committed and I've been trying to talk to her since." Inuyasha sighed. The first chance he'd gotten to talk to her and it was interrupted. How often would he even be able to attempt another talk while they were at the site?

"So you weren't committed?" Miroku asked. "So knowing you what you did was hold back?"

"Look my life isn't written in a biography. It's not easy to talk about my past." Inuyasha walked over to the bar and ordered a drink. "She wanted to know more and I wouldn't give."

"I could see why she would've ended it." Miroku sighed realizing he was going to have to explain it further. "Above all women want trust. Without trust there is no love. If you have to hide something like your past from her then it seems like you can't attempt the simplest of things for her. I don't know Kagome that well but from these last few weeks its obvious she works hard. And working hard takes a lot out of your social life and think. Would someone that works as hard as Kagome want to date someone who wasn't going to put in the same amount of effort?"

Inuyasha took the glass set in front of him and finished it in seconds.

\\\\\\\\\\*****//////////


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.**

**A Dig to the Past**

**Chapter 2**

**Unbelievable Events**

The next morning Kagome acted as if nothing had happened. She wanted to be professional and thinking of something like that would hinder it. Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, Kouga, and Kagome had all gotten into a suitable sized jeep for their ride to the site.

"As we all know what we're doing is excavating a cavern from the Sengoku Jidai era. Apparently a secret temple was built under ground in Japan which we all know now as an old recreational park." Kagome began explaining. "We don't know much about it, other than rumors and a few old texts we've seen before."

"The only reason we even got permission to do this was because of your influence and the city's vote in our favor." Sango said.

"They had planned to destroy the park and use it for land development." Kagome said. "As of right now, we should be able to get into the entrance. From there we'll be able to find out what it was used for and hopefully understand what they were doing then."

Sesshomaru nodded since he'd already read the report and he'd been hands on since the beginning even if he wasn't there in person. "We shouldn't have any disruptions as we work. As it was said media is not involved not only by your influence but by ours as well."

"We have plenty of security and more can be sent on the way if you request." Kagome frowned. "I've heard a few rumors of some notorious grave robbers who've been quite interested in what we're going to be digging up..."

"If it comes to that we'll have the law on our side." Sesshomaru began. "Not only did the city vote in our favor but technically we own the land as well. It was purchased by us so we wouldn't have any problems."

"When we arrive Sango will give us a tour of the site. I've only been here a few times myself and it was brief."

"There are first aid stations, bathrooms, recreation huts, we have onsite doctors, therapists, and much more. Although I realize that you some of you are youkai I would prefer everyone take a more cautious approach in everything. We work as a team which means we care for the safety of us all." Sango explained. "We've done the best we could to make it as comfortable as we could, but some have more trouble adjusting to the amount of time away from family members than others."

"And you? Don't you have family members you worry about?" Miroku asked.

"No, my mother and father passed away years ago and my younger brother is living comfortably on his own." Sango said.

"Can you quit with the flirting around me?" Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "This is business, flirt on your own time."

They all climbed out of the jeep when they arrived and were given a brief tour. "This is Rin our on site Doctor. She will accompany us in and Sango will go over a few of the rules we've had to set." Kagome explained.

"This is going to be a very old temple not only is it prone to falling apart we also have to worry about cave-ins since its underground. And as we know you youkai like to play superhero but we'll have none of that while I'm here." Sango smiled. "If any of you would like to try that and get injured, Rin here will show you no mercy when she helps you."

"I'll warn you now and mention that I have no sympathy for those who hurt themselves because they didn't follow the necessary rules." Rin smiled. "Otherwise it's nice to meet you."

The guys gave each other a look at this girl's personality. "I did the same thing when I met her." Kouga said. "Watch yourself with this one. She's not joking about the no mercy thing either. Ask a few of the guys who hurt themselves on purpose just to talk to her."

"We're going to be the first ones to enter so always stay a foot behind me and go no further. Disregard the rules and you'll return to the hotel I don't care who you are or how much money you have. Nothing is a substitute for your life so don't try to negotiate with me." Sango crossed her arms.

They all followed her and she nodded her okay to open the doors. They had a tool wedged in between the opening since it wouldn't open any other way. "Remember, watch your step and stay behind me." Sango said as she caught her breath. They took a few feet inside with some flashlights that were given to them by one of the workers. Sango looked around and couldn't see anything but darkness so she looked for a nearby light source that might have been used when the city was occupied. She noticed a large round plate with some wood and oil in it and took out a match throwing it in hoping it would give them some light.

To everyone's surprise that light had been linked to more surrounding the enormous area which was now visible. The light's oil was streamed to the next and all the way around lanterns were lit with through the intricate structure. They all gasped at the sight. The walls were made of stone with carved in markings of different kinds. A lot of arrows surrounded in light some large demon dogs and various other things. There was a pair of large doors that was covered in dust but still managed to look incredible. The door was painted with a large jewel image that was surrounded by a pair of wings with an arrow through it diagonally. On the ground in front of it was the same symbol but carved into the ground instead of painted.

"This…this is..."

"Amazing." Miroku finished Sango's sentence. She was too stunned to even think of a description. No matter how many times you uncovered something new it was always an elating experience, a euphoric experience that couldn't be described.

"I'm sorry I'm late...There was..." Shippo ran to the group out of breath and before he could even finish his sentence he saw what was in front of him and gasped. "The Temple of Souls."

"You know what this place is called?" Inuyasha asked.

Shippo nodded in response. "In the feudal era it was mysteriously built, it was never explained why underground but what information I have come across has said it was built in a desperate time of need. There were at least four priestesses who remained in the temple at all times to keep it from being tainted." He explained.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha exchanged looks. "Does this have anything to do with the legendary swords?" Sesshomaru asked.

"I won't know for sure until I'm able to analyze more of the drawings and artifacts." Shippo took a step forward.

"We won't be going in very far until I've assessed the structure." Sango turned to the group. "As amazing as it is, all up close research is going to have to wait until tomorrow. Only Kouga and his team are allowed in at the moment. Rin I'll need you near just in case something happens."

"This isn't something we want to stick around for. There are a lot of technical issues they have to go through in order to confirm the site is safe enough to walk around in." Kagome smiled. "I had breakfast to be ready for us in about ten minutes so if you'd follow me we can eat and we'll go over tomorrow's agenda."

They all followed Kagome to a tent where breakfast was served and they all sat down. "What were the legendary swords you mentioned?" Kagome asked.

"They are an ancient family heirloom of the Taiyo Inu Youkai clan lost long ago during a time of war, the Tetsaiga and Tensaiga forged by the great Totosai." Shippo answered for them.

"Finding them was the purpose of starting this excavation." Sesshomaru said. "They are a priceless family heirloom."

"How are you so sure of their existence?" Kagome asked.

"Our family has been searching for it for generations so I can only assume someone found some reliable source of information confirming their existence." Sesshomaru took a sip of tea.

"They aren't mentioned often but when they are they're usually referred to as bringing great destruction or life." Shippo remembered a few articles he'd read. "But from what we could see from the outside the arrows are symbols for the Priestess's holy power. They infused power with weapons, mostly arrows, and the sphere with the wings around it and an arrow through it seems familiar. I can't place where I've seen it from, I'll have to look through my texts."

Shippo stood up without a goodbye and mumbled to himself. "He does that often, he won't stop until he's found it or remembered." Kagome laughed. "Well for tomorrow's agenda since Sango has opened the door she won't stop until she's assessed the stability of the site, even if it means working through the night."

"What will we do tomorrow then?" Miroku asked.

"Of course we'll need to log any and all information we can find out, which will mostly be up to Shippo and his team. They'll take pictures and dig up any information they can. Once that is done we can open the main doors to the temple and the same suit will follow. Sango will evaluate the area for safety and Shippo's team will analyze the data behind them." Kagome explained.

"That sounds boring." Inuyasha said.

"There's nothing more exciting than being the first to see something that's been buried for hundreds of years!" Kagome glowed with excitement.

\\\\\*****/////

The next morning as promised they were able to enter the temple without having to follow Sango. "Even though we checked everything you'll still have to be careful. Movement over a certain area could change the structure's balance." Sango warned.

Everyone watched their movements carefully and began getting a closer look at what interested them the most. "Kagome, look over here." Kouga waved her over. "Doesn't this marking look like it was made a sword?"

"That's odd. They would've had better things to use to carve into the wall other than a sword not to mention the damage it did to the sword itself." Kagome kneeled down and moved her hand over the drawing. It was a small arrow with the light surrounding it. "I can't believe that someone would do all of this work."

"I wonder what it was for." Miroku said.

"It looks like it was some holy shrine built for miko's but other than that I'm not sure." Kagome shook her head. "This isn't just a normal temple there was something more to it."

"We have all the time in the world to figure it out. Don't overexert yourself Kagome." Kouga held out a hand to help her up.

Inuyasha growled at their contact. "Don't start any fights in here, wait until we're back at the hotel to start any quarrels you may have with the wolf." Sesshomaru warned.

"This is great!" Rin exclaimed. "I've never done anything like this before."

"You don't accompany people as a Doctor?" Sesshomaru asked.

"No, when the excavation started I had just moved here. Kagome and I met in a hospital when she was trying to recruit medical help for the excavation and I offered to come and work." Rin smiled. "To be honest I know nothing about archeology, I only know how to stitch people together."

"Look at this." Kagome was standing on the mirror image of the door. "They took a lot of time to carve this into the ground."

She knelt down and traced her fingers over the smooth markings. "Itai!" She had scratched her hand over something sharp.

"Kagome, are you alright?" Inuyasha jumped over to her.

"I'm fine, just a scratch."

"I'll take a look at it, with how old this place is we can't be too careful." Rin examined her hand. She sprayed it with disinfectant and wrapped it in a bandage. "It's deeper than it looks but it'll be fine. Just be careful."

"Don't touch strange stuff you'll hurt yourself." Inuyasha said.

"I can take care of mys-" Kagome began but the ground beneath them began to rumble.

The ceiling began to drop dirt and pebbles below them. Inuyasha immediately covered Kagome. "Everyone be careful and watch your head." Sango shouted.

"I found it you guys!" Shippo ran in without noticing the rumble. "I found out what it is!"

"Now's not the time Shippo." Kouga growled. "Something's going on."

"There's a light on the ground!" Rin shouted.

The engravings from the jewel started to glow and the ground shook even more. "There could be a cave in we need to get out of here!" Sango shouted.

Before any of them could make a movement the light got brighter blinding them all.

\\\\\*****/////

Kagome suddenly sat up, her eyes open. "Is everyone alright?" She asked.

"We're fine." Inuyasha answered. "You're the last to wake."

She looked around and noticed she was in what looked like a jail cell. "Where are we?" She asked.

"No idea. We all woke up here." Sango said. "After that light blinded me I don't remember anything else."

"I see that everyone has recovered." An unknown voice said.

"Who the hell are you?" Kouga asked. "Where are we?"

"As if you didn't know." A young man spat. "Were you not here to terrorize our village?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. What village?" Kagome stood up and walked over to the bars. When her hands made contact a white light appeared.

"A miko?" An elderly woman stepped forward.

"What? My name is Kagome." She introduced. "Would you mind telling us where we are?"

"I don't believe they'll bring any harm." The elderly woman told the men behind her. "You may release them."

"But Kaede-sama the youkai." One of the men said.

"We have plenty of wards if they decide to act unkindly." She said. "Release them and I will speak to them outside."

After the locks were undone they all followed the woman outside. "Where the fuck did we end up?" Inuyasha asked. They were nowhere near the dig site or the temple. In fact nothing of the place was familiar.

"This is the Goshinboku Village." The elderly woman said. "I am Kaede, what brings you here?"

Kagome looked at her surroundings confused, surprised, and a little sick to her stomach. "This looks like the feudal era. How did we end up in a place like this?" She asked.

"None of this makes any sense." Sango said.

"Your dressed very strangely have you traveled far?" Kaede asked.

"To be honest we don't know." Kagome said.

"We were out investigating some strange noises in the forest when you had fallen out of the sky." Kaede told them.

"That doesn't make any sense. We were just investigating the Temple of Souls." Shippo said.

"Did you say the Temple of Souls?" Kaede asked.

"That's what we were excavating when we arrived here." Sango said.

"No one knows the location of the Temple. The miko's who reside there are the only ones who know." Kaede explained. "It was built ten years ago to protect the land from evil and hide the Shikon no Tama."

"The Shikon no Tama?" Rin asked.

"It's the jewel from the painting on the door and etched on the ground." Shippo said. "The arrow represented the Miko's power. The jewel was fabled to be one of the greatest objects of power during the feudal era."

"The Shikon no Tama was brought to my sister Kikyo's care about five years ago and unfortunately she met her demise in watching over it." Kaede explained. "She was burned with the jewel in her hands."

"What exactly is the jewel?" Sesshomaru asked.

"It's a jewel of unimaginable powers. It could grant any wish, such as turning a hanyou into a full blooded youkai, or increasing someone's power tenfold." Kaede said. "It was in the protection of the four mikos for if someone evil were to obtain it, it would be tainted and be used for the wrong reasons. It was brought here to mislead people so if the temple was found the jewel would not."

"So we really are in the feudal era?" Sango asked.

"There's no other way to see it. The temple was built in the feudal era and apparently it's built although the location is unknown." Shippo said. "I don't understand how the temple had the power to bring us into the past."

"I can't believe this." Kagome said.

"If you are here then there must be a reason." Kaede said. "Your destinies have been written and now all you must do is fulfill them. You may stay here if you'd like there's an unoccupied hut for travelers you may use."

"What shall we do?" Miroku asked.

"It seems like all we can do is wait until we figure out what the fuck is going on." Inuyasha said.

"I have to agree with Inuyasha. Until we know what's happened there's nothing we can do." Sesshomaru stood up. "We will accept your offer so if you may show us the way."

"Of course follow me." Kaede stood up. "I will warn you that a few of the villagers are wary of the presence of youkai."

"But they won't bring any trouble." Kagome defended them. Of course in the feudal era it wasn't a time where humans and youkai got along but in the present it was completely different.

"Most of the villagers won't wait for them to do something." Kaede stopped in front of a large hut. "You may use this until you can figure out your own means."

"Thanks." Kagome answered for everyone.

Everyone sat down and silence overcame them all. It was unsettling they were thrown here without any idea why. "Hey Shippo, do you have anything about the Temple being a portal?" Rin asked finally breaking the silence.

"No."

"What else do you know?" She asked.

"The shrine was built to protect something in a time of terror. I can only assume it was to protect the jewel but it can't be destroyed." Shippo explained.

"Didn't Kaede-sama say that the jewel was burned with her sister's body?" Miroku asked.

"It's gone missing but that doesn't stop the jewel from coming back." Shippo said. "It's been passed through many miko's hands to mislead people of its whereabouts. Before Kikyo obtained it, someone else must have died protecting it and burned it with their body."

"Well that aside for now what are we going to do about food?" Rin asked and they all looked at Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Kouga.

"What the fuck are you looking at us for?"

"You're youkai you know how to hunt." Miroku said bluntly. "I'll gather some firewood, ladies if you wouldn't mind fetching some water and supplies."

"I'm not fucking hunting." Inuyasha crossed his arms. "I'm going with Miroku."

"I'll help carry the water." Sesshomaru said.

"Sorry Kouga that leaves you." Kagome smiled. "Do you mind?"

"Well since I can't leave you to starve." Kouga grabbed her hand. "I'll be back shortly with something to eat."

"That bastard!" Inuyasha shouted when he was alone with Miroku.

"Does he get to you that much?" Miroku asked. "Are you two dating again?"

"We haven't discussed it." Inuyasha said as he knocked down a tree.

Kagome decided to go see Kaede to borrow some supplies while Sango, Rin, and Sesshomaru went to gather water with some buckets that were in the hut. "Ah Kagome-sama what can I do for you?" Kaede asked.

"I hate to ask but do you have some extra cooking supplies?" Kagome asked.

"Of course I was going to bring some to you." Kaede said. "Along with some dishes and blankets."

"It surprises me that you believe our story." Kagome smiled.

"Well, you're wearing some strange garment and you did seem to fall out of the sky while we were gathering herbs." Kaede said. "If you stay in this village long enough you'd be surprised at what I'd believe."

"We'd like to ask more about the temple." Kagome said. "After all that's what we were originally doing before we ended up here."

"Many have searched for the temple and either didn't return or came back injured. Great harm comes to those who search its whereabouts." Kaede said sadly. "It brings nothing but misfortune to those who seek its location. We can discuss more when you've settled and decided what to do."

"What do you mean what to do?" Kagome asked. "We're going to try and go home."

"You don't think you came here for a reason?" Kaede asked. "Don't you believe your destiny brought you here for some purpose in your life?"

"I don't think there's anything that deep about our being here. Well anyway thanks for everything Kaede-sama." Kagome grabbed the things and left the hut.

By the time Inuyasha, Miroku, and Kouga got back water was already boiling and beds were set up for everyone. "What the hell are we going to do?" Sango asked. "We have strange clothing on, no one from this time is going to want to talk to us, let alone give us some information."

"We have to be extremely careful. The people here are superstitious, not to mention the youkai are dangerous. At this point they are still hostile towards humans and vice versa." Shippo explained. "We need to be careful with everything we say and do especially us youkai."

"I think the first thing we need to do is find some clothes. We'll look suspicious in these outfits." Kagome said.

"We don't have any money." Inuyasha said.

Rin couldn't help but laugh. "I'm sorry I just find it funny when three of the wealthiest men say they don't have any money." She explained.

"I'm sure there's something we can do around the village. Some type of odd job or something." Kagome said. "We just need to be calm and stick together until we can get back home."

Kagome began to cook with what she had. Kouga managed to catch some rabbits and thankfully he cleaned them too. "Thanks Kouga, this helps a lot." She smiled.

"Can't have us starving can we?" Kouga smiled back.

The hut was large enough to keep them comfortably. There were two rooms in the back so they separated guys in one room while the girls were in another. "You can hear them right?" Kouga asked once they were separated from the girls.

"The nearby youkai are restless." Sesshomaru said.

"What?" Miroku asked.

"The youkai outside are after something. They are restless." Shippo explained. "We should keep watch."

"I'll watch tonight." Inuyasha got up and made his way outside and jumped onto the hut keeping an ear out for anything suspicious.

Kagome was restless. When the girls were asleep she snuck out of the room and left the hut. Inuyasha saw her go off on her own and followed her. Once she got far enough away from the hut Inuyasha jumped down in front of her placing a hand over her mouth to stop her scream. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"What are you doing?" Inuyasha asked. "You shouldn't be out here."

"I needed some fresh air." Kagome said. "All the planning I've done over the last couple years has gone completely to waste."

"You don't know that yet. We could get home in the morning and we'll still be able to investigate the temple." Inuyasha said.

"I don't know." Kagome said with worry. "There's something wrong. Something just feels off, like we're in big trouble."

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her. Her instincts were usually right. "Everything will be fine. We'll find a way to get home." He comforted her.

/////*****\\\\\


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.**

**A Dig to the Past**

**Chapter 3**

The next morning when the group walked towards Kaede's hut there were whispers coming from everyone and stares from every direction. "Everyone is staring." Rin said.

"Well we are wearing strange clothing." Kagome said. "I wouldn't really expect any different."

"But Kaede-sama look at the way they're dressed, they've got to be youkai planning to terrorize the village!" A villager was shouting.

"They are not all youkai and even so they have yet to do anything troublesome." Kaede reassured a few villagers. "I will not turn them away."

"Is something wrong Kaede-sama?" Kagome asked. "We're not causing trouble for you are we?"

"No, the villagers are afraid of trouble. When the jewel was in Kikyo's care the village was often attacked by youkai and a few humans." Kaede shook her head. "It seems they think any youkai or traveler for that matter is a bad omen."

"Well we aren't going to do anything." Miroku said. "I assure you our coming here was an accident and we won't be any hindrance to you."

"Have you come for something?" She asked.

"Well we don't know how long we're going to be here so we were wondering if there was something we could do." Kagome said. "We can't walk around here with these clothing, we look too suspicious."

"I have a few yukatas of Kikyo's for the women but I have nothing for you men." Kaede said. Before she could go and get them the ground rumbled and the villagers screamed.

"Kaede-sama a youkai!" One of the villagers shouted.

She nodded and ran inside her hut grabbing a bow and some arrows. "Get the women and children to safety!" She shouted. "You should get to safety as well, there's no telling what this youkai could do."

"We can stay and help." Kouga said. "Miroku get the girls to safety and get your ass back here to help!"

"I'm not going to run and hide while you guys fight!" Kagome shouted.

"There's nothing we can do." Rin grabbed Kagome's arm. "We need to get back."

Miroku grabbed Sango's hand and led them into Kaede's hut. "Don't move from here." He said sternly.

"Just because I'm a woman it doesn't make me useless!" Sango shouted at him.

"Let's face it against a youkai we can't do anything." Rin said. "At this point we're just getting in the way."

Kagome stepped outside of the hut along with Sango. Rin joined to make sure nothing would happen to them and they all watched as the villagers stood in front and waited for the youkai to appear. The rumbling had stopped and Sesshomaru stepped forward. "It's coming." He whispered.

Suddenly from the ground a large centipede youkai and the girls gasped. It was nothing like the youkai they had seen before. It hissed angrily and began assaulting the village knocking the closest hut out of its way. "We must not let it inside the village!" Kaede shouted. She notched an arrow and aimed for its head but its reflexes were too quick and dodged the arrow. It hissed and began moving towards her. She dropped the bows and arrows to jump out of the way before it slammed into the ground below her.

"Kaede-sama!" Kagome ran towards her to help the elderly woman up and get to safety.

Sesshomaru and Inuyasha looked towards each other and nodded before running towards the youkai. They both managed to kick it hard enough to make it fall backwards and crash to the ground. "You mustn't let it touch you with its tail!" Kaede shouted. "It injects poison!"

The youkai reared up once more and made its way into the village towards Kaede once more. It stopped upon seeing Kagome and stopped inches from her face, sniffing her. "Miko." A voice rumbled from the youkai before it turned to attack her with the poison Kaede had warned about.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted and ran towards her, taking the blow instead. He immediately slumped already feeling the poison invade his body.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted in horror as he fell in front of her. The youkai turned and made a move to strike again. The only thing she could think of was to grab an arrow that was nearby and hope that she could do enough damage to cause it to stagger. But to everyone's surprise the arrow glowed in her hand when she struck the youkai it let out an ear wrenching screech. It was then that Sesshomaru and Kouga took that moment of opportunity to use the distraction to finish it off.

Not caring what had happened Kagome immediately turned to Inuyasha. "Inuyasha are you alright?" She shouted with tears in her eyes.

"The poison won't kill him if something is done immediately." Kaede explained. "Quickly someone carry him inside so we can give him something!"

\\\\\*****/////

Inuyasha felt an immense pain when he came to. Everything was a bit fuzzy and he sat up only to regret his actions. He looked around at where he was and saw he was back in the hut. His only thought was to make sure Kagome was alright. Before he could stand up to look for her she entered the room. When she noticed he was awake she dropped the bowl of water she was holding in her hands and ran towards him. "Inuyasha you're awake!" She shouted in relief.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "What happened?"

"Kagome is everything alright?" Her friends had walked in hearing the bowl drop. Sango walked over to the group looking relieved. "Inuyasha you're awake."

"I'm fine, what the hell happened?" He asked.

"You took poison for Kagome." Sesshomaru said bluntly. "It's been four days since the attack. The centipede's body has been removed from the village and burned."

"Four days?" Inuyasha asked. "What fucking poison is that?"

"It matters not." Kaede walked into the hut. "It's been almost a year now since we've been threatened by youkai presence. The village has thanked you for your help. You must be careful, there are many youkai that are just as dangerous and many that are worse than what you've just seen."

"I've never seen youkai like that before." Rin still couldn't believe it.

"We're in the past." Shippo said with folded arms. "This is where youkai were at its purest, without the blood of humans to delude their power. The youkai here have shed any reason, any human form, and any weakness to gain more power. Many youkai have a second form but it's only used as a self defense and only the most powerful have it."

"Was anyone hurt?" Inuyasha asked. He knew Kagome was fine when he couldn't smell any blood.

"No, Kagome weakened the youkai and Sesshomaru and Kouga managed to finish it off." Kaede said. "As you heard from the youkai itself Kagome is a miko."

"I was so worried about Inuyasha I never got to ask about it." Kagome looked down at her hands. She remembered the whitish blue glow and the power she felt surge through her body at that time.

"There aren't very many like you. After Kikyo's death someone did a terrible act and made sure to kill any miko he crossed paths with." Kaede said with sadness in her voice. "No one has yet to see who this monster is. All we know is that he still hunts them and is in search of the temple."

"Who could do something like that?" Sango asked.

"I can only imagine he is trying to prevent his demise for something he has planned. Rumor has it that this man is also gathering powerful allies." Kaede shook her head. "We know nothing more than this. Enough talk Inuyasha still needs rest. Although the poison has passed through your body it will be another day or so to gather strength. I shall be among the villagers if you need me."

"We'll leave you two alone." Rin began pushing everyone out of the room. "Inuyasha is going to need his bandages changed."

"Why aren't you doing it?" Miroku asked. "You're the registered nurse."

"Yes, but he isn't in a danger zone." Rin smiled. "We should get some supplies for tonight. I'm sure Inuyasha is starving."

"That girl is out of her fucking mind." Inuyasha pulled Kagome close.

"She's right though, I need to make sure you're alright." She moved behind him to remove the bandages. When she'd first seen his wounds she almost fainted. There was a gaping hole in his back that was oozing green puss and he was sweating and panting. With the bandages removed the wound was almost fully healed. Youkai or not she wanted to be safe and dressed him in new bandages. When she was done she leaned her head against his back and wrapped her around his waist. "You're such an idiot."

"Because I saved your life?" Inuyasha pulled her into his lap and placed a hand under her chin.

"You risked your life for mine." Kagome pulled away from him tears in her eyes. "You shouldn't do something that reckless."

"I wasn't going to let that damn youkai hurt you." Inuyasha kissed her.

"Inuyasha..."

"Where in the hell did you get those clothes?" He asked. It took him a while to notice but she was wearing a light blue yukata with her hair in a ponytail.

"Kaede-sama gave us the clothing that belonged to Kikyo." Kagome smiled. "The villagers even gave us some clothing for you guys since we helped in defeating the youkai. They gave us a lot of supplies for our stay while we're here too."

"The villagers made us dinner!" Rin came in with a bowl of rice in her hands. The rest came in with various foods as well. "They heard you were awake and made a meal for you!"

"We need to discuss a plan of action." Sesshomaru announced.

"Why a plan of action?" Shippo asked as he ate.

"Sesshomaru is right." Kagome sighed. "Like it or not we're stuck here right now and nothing will happen unless we do something."

"Where would we even start?" Kouga asked.

"This started in the temple we should find it." Inuyasha suggested. "It could have the answers we need."

"No one knows where it is!" Rin reminded them.

"True, but we're a team of archeologists. We know what we need to look for and Shippo's got a lot of expertise on the temple itself." Kagome smiled. "If we can find some rumors of its whereabouts I'm sure we can narrow our search areas based on the landscape we found it and where it is now."

"That seems to be our only option." Miroku said. "But we can't take this lightly. We're not worrying about a few grave robbers on our search. We must prepare for this journey as well as protect ourselves on the way. We have no supplies or means to protect ourselves."

"Speak for yourself." Inuyasha folded his arms. "Us youkai will be fine, you humans need to worry."

"Either way we need something to protect ourselves." Miroku said. "You guys can't always be on guard to protect us."

"We can't leave for a while. Inuyasha still needs another day or two of recovery at least." Rin said. "Even if you feel fine, the poison hasn't completely left your system. I suggest we find a hot spring or something for you to sweat out any of the toxin that's still in your blood."

"Hopefully that will give us enough time to get supplies ready. Kouga, Shippo, and Sango should get together and find out where our greater chances of finding the temple are. We should have a pretty good idea." Kagome stood up. "Miroku you should start talking to the villagers and get some information out of them, anything about the temples whereabouts or even any rumors. We're going to need lots of supplies so Rin and I will speak with Kaede-sama and start gathering a few things. Inuyasha you need to stay here and res-"

"Like hell I will!" He growled in protest.

"I'm going to scout ahead and take a look at the outer surroundings." Sesshomaru stood up as he ignored Inuyasha.

"I was just going to suggest that. Thanks Sesshomaru." Kagome smiled and then turned a glare to Inuyasha. "You are NOT to move from this spot and if I found out you have, I'll leave you here in the past."

With that she turned on her heel not leaving room for argument and left the hut with Rin chasing after her. "What the hell?" Inuyasha said a little dumbfounded.

"You did worry her." Sango shook her head. "She stayed with you the entire time and barely ate or slept while you were out."

Sesshomaru left without another word and Kouga, Sango, and Shippo began deliberating where the temple was based on the location. "The problem isn't the temple's location. It's where we are." Shippo crossed his arms. "With what happened we could be halfway across Japan and not even know it."

"That does pose a problem." Kouga placed a hand on his chin. "We'll just have to go at this blindly. Everything has changed too much to base it on the land structure."

Kagome entered the hut with Miroku and sat down next to Inuyasha. "Kaede-sama talked to the villagers and they've agreed to help supply us with things we'll need." Kagome explained. "They probably think we're a bad omen and don't want us staying in the village."

"Either way any help regardless of the motive is enough for now. The likeliness of coming back here is little to none anyway." Miroku sat down in a cross legged position. "We need to stick together. There are too many unanswered questions to risk separating ourselves."

Sango nodded in agreement. "There's no telling when we could end up back in the present or if separating ourselves hurts our chances of going back. It would be terrible for some of us to get back and not the others." She slumped back against the wall frustrated.

They knew it wasn't going to be an easy journey but even if they mentally prepared themselves for anything they were still likely to be overwhelmed. There were too many things that they didn't know and things were different in this time. They were going to have to be on guard all the time and find a comfortable traveling routine, which would be difficult. Youkai could travel longer and faster than humans, not to mention they needed less rest so they would have to somehow manage to balance their pace. Anxiety washed over the group as they prepared for the stressful journey.

Sesshomaru entered the hut and sat down near the entrance. "We will need to work a routine on watch when we are asleep at night. There are far more hostile youkai and it will be necessary to protect ourselves." He crossed his arms as a stern look appeared on his face. "I will watch tonight. We should leave as early as we can. The humans are still wary about our presence and we can cover more ground during this time. Have we decided on a general direction?"

"But Inuyasha still needs to recover first." Rin said. "The poi-"

"I feel fine, I'm not going to sit in this hut while you guys run around and figure shit out. We can leave without any problems." Inuyasha stood up and walked outside of the hut. "I'm getting some air."

"So far I've heard a few rumors, I don't think they have any truth but it's all we have. A few villagers have heard it's to the east hidden in the mountains. We didn't find it anyway near mountains in the present but heading that way might get us some new information." Miroku explained.

"Seems reasonable enough to do, it's better than sitting around doing nothing." Shippo said.

"What about Inuyasha though? Will he be okay enough to travel?" Rin asked.

"He'll be fine. When we reach a source of water he can relax then." Sesshomaru said. "Our first few days of travel will be slow so we can get a good pace, too much at once will just exhaust us."

"I'm going to go find Inuyasha." Kagome stood up and began walking out of the hut.

"Take these too him." Shippo threw her some clothes and barely even looked up. "He'll need them."

Kagome didn't question him. She wasn't sure he'd even hear her if she had. "Get some rest then, we'll leave early in the morning." Leaving the hut she got a nice cool breeze of air and began searching for Inuyasha. She called out his name knowing he would hear her if she were close enough to him. Oddly enough he was farther than she'd thought. When she reached the thicker part of the forest she heard a splash and headed towards the sound. She found an open clearing with hot springs and walked closer to it. It was beautifully lit with the moonlight and she smiled. For that moment she was able to relax.

That peaceful moment was ruined when someone surfaced and she screamed. Quickly she turned around and sputtered an apology for barging in. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Kagome turned around to see Inuyasha waist deep in the water. She turned around giving him his privacy. "I was looking for you. We're all about to go to bed since we have to get up early tomorrow. I brought you some clothes, shippo told me to take them to you." She could hear him getting out of the water and she took a step back towards the hut. "I'll see you back at the hut so you can get dressed."

Inuyasha tugged on her arm and embraced her. She shouted in protest since she thought he was naked. "I have pants on, and it's not like you haven't seen me naked before." He smiled.

"That's completely different. We were together then." She finally laid her hands on his chest since he wouldn't budge.

"I still want to talk about that." He frowned and took a step back so he could look at her.

"Inuyasha, it's...there's too much going on right now to talk about it." She turned her head avoiding his eyes. "I'm confused and there are more important things to worry about right now."

"I think this is important. You never gave me a chance and I want to talk about it." He grew frustrated with her. She kept avoiding the topic the last time he brought it up and she'd continue to do it until he pestered her enough. "You're trying to say I'm not important enough?"

"You know that's not what I mean." She frowned and covered herself with her arms when a breeze blew past.

"Let's go back." Inuyasha picked up the clothes and put them on. They walked to the hut in silence and when they split to the rooms he hugged her. "Don't think I'm letting you avoid this."

I know took forever right? Been stressed lately and when I want to write I don't have the time and blah blah sob story blah. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.**

**A Dig to the Past**

**Chapter 4**

"Can we stop?"

"Again? We just got done with lunch not too long ago." Sango looked back at Rin."

"I know, but you guys are a bunch of archeologists you're used to this. All I do is sew people up. Being on my feet all day isn't something I'm used to." She moped.

"There's a hot springs nearby. We can stop for the night and get some rest." Sesshomaru told the group. "Inuyasha can rest in the springs and you can soak your feet. Does that sound reasonable?"

"It sounds wonderful." Rin plopped on the ground where she was.

"I hate to ruin your mood Rin but we need to move further into the forest so we can avoid people on the main road and set up for camp." Kouga held out a hand to help her up.

She groaned but took Kouga's hand so that they could set up for camp. The group had only made it to their second day and tensions were running. Working together at an archeology dig and traveling were two completely different situations. At least working together you're so involved with your work you don't think about it. Traveling there's nothing to do but to talk which they weren't even doing. There were a lot of irritations with the rest stops and breaks. Being so soon in their travels it didn't look good.

After they set up camp they sat around a fire in silence. "So I think us girls should take a nice soak in the hot springs." Rin stood up.

"What about Inuyasha? He still needs to recover from the poison." Sango asked.

"He said he's fine so I suppose he can suffer." Rin glared at him before stomping off. After a few steps she stopped realizing she didn't know where it was. "Sesshomaru would you mind showing us where it is?"

He didn't say anything but led Rin and Sango to the hot springs. "Are you sure you're alright? We can let you go first." Kagome asked Inuyasha as they trailed behind.

"I told you I'm fine." He grumbled. "What's with her? I never did anything and she just glared at me!"

Kagome laughed and knelt on the ground motioning for him to do the same. He sucked in a breath when she began removing his haori gliding her fingers across his skin. She began removing his bandages to inspect his wounds which at this point were almost nonexistent. You could barely tell he was hurt except for the discoloration of his skin. "Don't worry about Rin she'll calm down after a soak. She doesn't like it when people don't take their health seriously." Kagome finally removed the bandages since he no longer needed them. "Well if I had half the abilities you did I wouldn't have to worry about scars like you do. I still want you to at least soak for a while after we're done."

"Keh." He folded his arms across his chest. "Only if you promise me we'll talk."

"Inuyasha this isn't the time." She looked down and focused on her hands. "Right now I just want to worry about us getting home, all of us."

"And we will, but I still want to talk. You've ignored me for too long and I can't keep holding myself back from you especially since we have the time together now." Inuyasha moved closer to her. Kagome jumped to her feet and Inuyasha did too backing her up against a tree. "You can't ignore me Kagome and I can't keep holding back."

"Don't do this." She said barely above a whisper. It was hard to resist him as it was. There was always something about him. He was a conceded arrogant jerk most of the time but there were moments he was so sweet and sincere it made her forget about it.

But it was already too late he was leaned in too close. She could feel his breath on her lips and she unconsciously closed the gap between them. Her lips pressed forward as her hands pulled him in for contact. All the contact brought back memories of their time together and Kagome couldn't help but let it wash over her. Every laugh, every kiss, every touch was coming back to her and it was getting the better of her. She was so swept away she allowed Inuyasha to part open her lips to deepen the kiss. It wasn't before long that she felt his hands creeping up her waist to open her yukata.

"I hate to interrupt but I don't believe this is the most appropriate place to be so intimate."

Kagome immediately pushed Inuyasha and spun around to fix her clothes. "Dammit Sesshomaru couldn't you have walked around?" Inuyasha growled. He was well aware his brother knew what was happening and deliberately interrupted. "This is a fucking forest get lost."

"The hot springs are straight ahead Kagome." Sesshomaru said. Kagome nodded and ran off to meet her friends. "They were bound to come looking for her and since they are human they would've interrupted something much worse. Be thankful I stopped the embarrassment for her and any chances you have with her."

Inuyasha couldn't help but continue to growl. Sure he was half right but he would've smelled them before they came. Or maybe not since he didn't even notice Sesshomaru get so close. Next time he would have to take her somewhere more private...

Kagome reached the hot springs and stripped off her clothing before slowly getting into the hot springs. "There's nothing like this back at home." She smiled. The natural setting and privacy of this time was nothing like the best artificial hot spring man could ever make.

"What took you so long?" Rin asked. "You should've met with Sesshomaru on the way back. Did you get lost?"

"No, I was making sure Inuyasha was alright before I got here." Kagome hoped the heat of the springs would cover her blush.

"I'm sure that's what it was. And your previous relationship with him and your kiss at the hotel had nothing to do with the extra time spent with a youkai whose wounds can heal quickly on their own?" Sango smirked.

"Of course, I made sure he was healing well since there was poison involved." Kagome stuttered.

"Oh Kagome, you're an adult but you still blush like a teenager." Rin laughed. "So was Inuyasha the 'arrogant but sweet jerk' you told me about?"

"He was." Kagome frowned. "But he won't leave me alone about getting back together. I want to focus on getting us back to where we were and figure out what the hell happened to us."

"What does it matter if you get back together?" Sango asked. "All we have is time right now since we're completely blind in what we're doing. He obviously still wants a relationship with you."

"As if taking a poison hit for you wasn't clue enough about it." Rin smiled.

"I don't know. I broke off our relationship because I didn't think he was serious and committed enough to it." She sighed. "I have been ignoring him and putting him off for a while now."

"Isn't that any indication of how serious and committed he is?" Sango asked. "He probably didn't date anyone while you were broken up and he's continued to keep trying to talk to you."

"Maybe he screwed up." Rin added. "Some guys are just useless when it comes to love. Lets face it if any guy had to muster up the courage to say it they would probably mess it up the first few times."

"I don't know." Kagome looked up at the sky. "I can't help but push him away right now. I just have this ominous feeling about this whole situation right now. Something is just off. I don't know how to explain it but its making me uneasy right now."

Sango knew all too well how Kagome's instincts were. "We should probably cut this short and stick with the guys until we can get this whole traveling set into a good motion." Sango stood up and got out of the hot springs.

The other girls did the same and before they could even get their clothing on all of the guys were in a circle surrounding them with their backs to them. They all screamed and covered themselves. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?" Rin shouted.

"Hurry up and put your clothes on. There's something here." Kouga said.

The girls threw on their yukatas and quickly tied them like robes. "What is it?" Sango asked.

"Don't know." Shippo answered. "It's trying to mask itself. We barely noticed ourselves."

"How observant for a young one." A voice could be heard but they didn't know from where.

"What the fuck do you want?" Inuyasha asked as he stepped in front of Kagome. The rest of the guys began tightening around the girls since they seemed to be the target.

"I sense a miko among the group. Very well concealed and I'm curious to find out which one it is." The voice then laughed. "And one other with some spiritual powers but I can only assume untrained. No monk would go without ofuda or his staff."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kouga growled. "There's no one like that here."

"Hmm I disagree." The voice boomed loudly. Suddenly in front of them was a smoke cloud and someone in a baboon pelt stood in front of them. They couldn't make out a face since it was covered by the nose of the animal and didn't have time to contemplate on anything else since tentacles shot out from underneath the pelt.

Everyone but Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Kouga had a tentacle wrapped around their necks. Not tight enough to kill them but more than enough to keep them restrained. While they were restrained the others tried to fight off the oncoming hoards of tentacles that kept coming after them. They couldn't help the others since they could barely do enough to protect themselves. Sesshomaru could keep most of them from even getting near him by warding them off with his poison claws. Kouga was fast enough to keep dodging the oncoming ones. Inuyasha was clawing each one that got close while trying to make his way to the others.

"Let's play a game shall we? Kanna your assistance." In front of the man appeared a little girl. She had the palest skin and matching white hair with bangs giving her a ghostly image. She wore a white yukata and held a mirror in her hands. She raised it above her head and it began to glow brightly. "We'll eliminate the least likely to have spiritual powers and the two who are left, well we'll see what happens."

"Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted as he saw the tentacles beginning to glow as the mirror did. "We need to do something other than just dodge these fucking things."

"Obviously but when you come up with a plan why not tell us so we can give it a go?" Kouga snapped sarcastically. "If I knew how to fucking get rid of these things I'd have done it by now."

The tentacle that was wrapped around Shippo began to dull and he was tossed aside like a towel. He fell to the ground and quickly recuperated but was being attacked by more before he could try and help anyone. "Obviously not the youkai." The man stated. Sango was then tossed aside next but she her legs were quickly restrained making her unable to move. "Interesting, only one more to go."

Rin was then tossed next but more violently then the other two. Had she hit the ground it would've been painful but instead she was caught by Sesshomaru. "Ah well here we have it." You could hear the smile from the man. The tentacles stopped glowing and moved wrapping around Miroku and Kagome's necks and lifted them off the ground. "The miko and the monk although I have no use for you monk. One who is unprepared cannot be a threat. The miko on the other hand..."

Miroku was then dropped on the ground and he quickly scrambled to his feet. Kagome was slowly being pulled towards the man in the pelt and he ran to her trying to pull her free of the tentacles grasp. His hands were surrounded by a light as he touched the tentacle and all of the tentacles stopped moving and retracted back to the man.

"Well this was unexpected." This time the group noticed that the voice hadn't been coming from the man standing in front of him. "Kanna your services are no longer needed." The girl nodded before flipping her mirror and disappearing. "Well monk you have unexpectedly hindered my plan and because I'm feeling rather generous I'll allow you to live. But let me leave a gift as a reminder of this little annoyance."

The tentacles once again swooped out but only at Miroku this time barely missing Kagome. It knocked him back against a tree and one of the tentacles glowed red before touching his right palm. "I leave with you a curse that will pass from generation to generation until my death. Your hand will become a void taking in everything you care about until it finally consumes you." The voice laughed and the baboon suited man was gone.

Miroku was dropped to the ground and everyone ran to him but he quickly stopped them. "Don't!" He shouted. His hand was burning and a black line ran through his palm. It then shattered almost looking as if a mirror had been cracked and suddenly his palm opened.

The group began to feel as they were being sucked towards him and tried to stand their ground. "Oh my god, his hand is a black hole." Sango fell to the ground. "What should we do?"

"We need to cover it up!" Rin shouted but soon they saw the power of the curse.

It was starting to pull them in harder and shrubs were starting to go towards him. They gasped when they saw the black hole take it in completely. Miroku was in so much pain and it took all of his effort to turn away from his friends. "Leave me and go! You heard him it's going to suck in everything until it consumes me! If you don't leave soon it will suck you in!" He shouted.

"We can't just leave you here like this!" Sango shouted.

"We need something to cover it." Kagome mumbled. Then she remembered some prayer beads Kaede had given her. She said she'd enchanted it to help protect them. "Sango give me your bandana."

Sango gave it to her without questions assuming she had a plan. But when Kagome started moving closer to Miroku she had to ask. "Kagome what are you doing?" She shouted.

"I think this might help." Kagome moved closer even with everyone's protest. Inuyasha moved to grab her before she got to close but it was too late. She'd reached Miroku and ignored his shouts to get away. The suction was too much and the cloth was pulled from her hands before she could position it and without much time to react she let go of the prayer beads.

Inuyasha had grabbed her and pulled her back but then he noticed Miroku was on the ground and there wasn't any wind around his palm. "Kagome what did you do?" He asked.

She slowly inched towards him and looked at his palm. The cloth had wrapped around the hole stopping the suction. Somehow the prayer beads were sealing the void and the bandana had covered the entire palm. Miroku was passed out on the ground. She tied the bandana securely around his wrist and called out to Rin. She examined him checking for anything threatening and breathed a sigh of relief. "He's alright he's just passed out from the pain." Rin stood up. "We should get back to camp and make him more comfortable."

--------------

Miroku woke up in a cold sweat scaring Sango and Kagome who were sitting next to him. "God Miroku are you trying to give us a heart attack?" Sango asked. She leaned him back to lie on his back and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better since I'm surrounded by so many women." He smiled as Rin knelt beside him. "What happened was anyone hurt?"

"You've been asleep for a day now." Rin said. "Everyone is fine including you but you should take it easy for a while."

Miroku held up his right hand in front of his face. He'd half wondered if it was a dream. "Somehow the prayer beads are sealing the vortex." Kagome answered his question. "Kaede-sama gave them to me before we left. I guess they came into good use."

Miroku sat up and took Sango's hands in his and looked at her with all seriousness in his face. "Sango will you do me the honor of bearing my child?"

He was on the ground with a throbbing head as Sango stood above him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She shouted at him.

"You heard what he said this curse will live through generations. I need a son before I'm gone." Miroku sat back up and rubbed his head. "It's not nice to hurt an injured person."

"He's laughing through it." Inuyasha shook his head.

"This isn't a subject we should discuss right now. We'll wait until he's had a few hours to settle before we talk about this." Sesshomaru said. "He'll probably want something to eat. Kouga if you will. I'm going to accompany Rin in gathering some more wood. Shippo stay close to Miroku and Sango. Inuyasha get some water."

"I'll go with you." Kagome said. "I want to get some water for Miroku."

"Stay in groups, no one wanders off alone." Sesshomaru warned. "Let's go Rin."

Inuyasha grabbed the bucket they had been using for water and waited for Kagome before heading for the river. They were silent the entire way there. When they arrived Kagome knelt down to fill the bucket and stopped when Inuyasha sat down beside her. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I told you yesterday I'm fine." She smiled trying to reassure him.

"Does it still hurt?" He tilted her head up with his hand. Kagome had bruises around her neck from the attack and he could see in her face every once in a while that it hurt. He pulled her into his lap gently kissing below the bruises being careful not to hurt her.

"It's sore but nothing too bad." For the first time Kagome relaxed and leaned into him. "We should probably get back. You guys never got your turn in the hot springs and I know we'll need another soak."

"You women and your baths." Inuyasha chuckled as he helped her up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.**

**A Dig to the Past**

**Chapter 5**

During the gathering of firewood Rin had somehow managed to talk Sesshomaru into discussing the matter the next morning after a bath. Miroku had slept the rest of the night after a soak in the hot springs and slept through the night. The rest of the guys were a bit uneasy and didn't sleep well. They slept probably half of the night so that they could keep an eye on everyone. They didn't want to let their guard down especially after what had happened. Reality was slowly setting in for them as they realized that the danger was real in this time. It wasn't going to be like home where there were rules and the law to take care of the dangerous issues. Here there were no rules and everyone did as they pleased.

"I don't know how you did it Rin but you must have some serious skills of persuasion." Sango smiled as she soaked into the hot springs once more. "If it weren't for them having to bathe in groups then we could've done this last night."

"At least we get to take it easy since Miroku isn't up to full strength and we get to leave a bit later today." Rin smiled. "I don't understand why guys can't bathe together like we can."

"It's a guy thing. Besides I don't think any guy wants to see their brother naked or vice versa." Kagome sighed. Miroku had bathed alone, then Sesshomaru and Kouga, and finally Inuyasha and Shippo leaving no time that night for the girls to get back in. "Even if they are grown men."

The girls started laughing and after about twenty minutes of relaxation they dried off and changed. But they started to smell something burn and ran back to camp. Instead of any danger the guys had just burned breakfast. "Great leave men to cook and they destroy it." Rin rolled her eyes and inspected it. "It's not too bad but I suggest you leave the cooking to me."

"We can rotate our daily routine." Kagome said. "It's best to stay in groups for safety especially after what happened yesterday."

"I think until we can find the temple the chances of us getting back are less likely." Shippo spoke up. "I think the temple itself had a great deal with our travel back in time. From what I can tell, something about our presence in the temple was significant. Some type of power was still in the temple."

"You think the temple had enough power to send us back in time?" Kouga asked.

"That's impossible they wouldn't have had this type of power." Sango had seen much of the temple that night to examine it but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Not really. This is the feudal era." Shippo stated. "Here there's magic and a lot of it. It's not like in our time and we've even seen an example of it. Miroku is obviously showing signs of spiritual power and the man in the pelt said Kagome was a miko and its not the first time we've heard of that. We heard it from Kaede that someone was eliminating them. He must've succeeded well since in our time we don't have nearly as many miko and monks like we do youkai. In fact I've never come across any or even heard of it. It could be possible that they were all killed."

"If that were the case how did Miroku and Kagome end up with powers?" Sango asked. "Wouldn't it have had to stay in the family?"

"I can't explain it but it's the only thing I can think of. Maybe they activated the temple's dormant power and somehow transported us into this era." Shippo folded his arms. "I won't know for sure until I examine the temple. We can't rule out that explanation though."

Miroku lifted his hand and looked at the prayer beads wrapped around his wrist and palm. He definitely had something since he had injured the man. "That man, was he a youkai?" He asked.

"I felt nothing of that from him but he wasn't human either." Inuyasha said. "We didn't even feel his presence until he got close to the hot springs."

"He didn't have any spiritual power or youki." Sesshomaru said. "I can only assume after seeing him that he's more powerful than he wants us to know."

"Do you think he'll be back?" Rin asked.

"We can't assume anything." Kouga said. "We'll exhaust ourselves if we constantly think he'll be back but we can't assume he won't be. We just need to be prepared for any type of situation."

"Last night only made us aware of the dangers of being in this time." Sesshomaru stood up. "We need to start moving."

----------------

Luckily for the group that evening they had reached a village and wandering around they got the same reaction at Kaede's village. Mothers were grabbing their children to usher them back inside their homes. "We should probably leave the village." Sango said.

"It's not like we have money to stay at an inn anyway." Rin shrugged. "We can just quickly pass through."

"That's not fair. Just because their youkai doesn't mean they're a threat." Kagome frowned.

A villager walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Miss we must ask you're...ah companions to leave the village."

"Because they're youkai?" Kagome asked outraged. She couldn't believe he actually had the nerve to approach her to say that. "They won't bring any harm and I don't appreciate you assuming that they would."

"We've had too many attacks lately to trust anyone." Another man stepped up to her grabbing her arm violently. "If you choose to associate with these monsters then you should leave with them whore."

Inuyasha began growling at the man's comment not to mention he was hurting Kagome. She jerked her arm back from him and immediately rushed to Inuyasha's side. "You're only going to make things worse by acting on this." She whispered to him.

"Hansuke-sama! The youkai are coming!" A group of villagers ran to him.

"So you've brought friends to throw us off guard?" He shouted angrily at him. "Gather your weapons and we'll ward them off. You three guard this group!"

"What should we do?" Sango asked as the three men surrounded them with pitchforks. Of course they could take them since they were outnumbered but it wasn't worth the trouble and accusations it would bring.

"We wait. If we don't do any damage they can't blame us for anything." Kouga crossed his arms and sat on the ground.

One of the nearby houses in front of them collapsed and a group of youkai that looked like tigers began to assault the villagers. One of them was thrown near the group. "We have to do something!" Rin shouted as she tried to run and help him.

One of the men grabbed her wrist and threw her on the ground. "We can't have you helping your youkai friends." He shouted.

Sesshomaru was in front of the man and took his weapon from him. "We aren't here to help the youkai and if you lay a hand on her again you'll regret it. Rin are you alright?" He asked as he helped her up.

"I'm fine thank you." She ran to the man who had been thrown towards them and checked for wounds. He had three claw marks on his wrist and she pulled out some bandages to wrap them with. "Once this is over make sure you wash the wound with cold water or it could get infected and you'll break out in a fever."

He nodded and thanked her but more screams could be heard. "Miroku, Shippo stay with the girls." Kouga cracked his knuckles. "Inuyasha, Sesshomaru, and I will take care of the youkai."

"Why do you keep thinking we're so useless?" Sango shouted.

"Sango you have no weapon and you're not a youkai. Right now this is not the time to argue about it." Miroku took her hands. "It would be awful if I allowed something to happen to any of you."

"Shippo come with me so I can help the injured villagers!" Rin ran without letting him object.

Most of the villagers ran into a frenzy screaming. They noticed that a few of the women were trying to round up the children to get them to a safer place but one of the tiger youkai noticed the easy targets and was running towards them. Miroku had picked up one of the hoes that was lying on the ground and moved in front of the group to help them. He successfully knocked the tiger youkai back but also made it angrier. He wasn't going to be able to do much against it without a proper weapon. He held his hand up and saw the prayer beads. The youkai was ready to attack once more as it lowered itself to the ground to jump. Miroku did the only thing he could think of and when the youkai jumped at him he removed the beads around his hand and opened his palm facing the youkai. The vortex sucked in the youkai without problem and Miroku covered his palm before turning to the group of children.

"Are you alright?" He asked them.

"Yes, we're fine." One of the mothers thanked him and they escorted the children to safety.

Miroku turned around to get back to Sango and Kagome but to his horror they were surrounded by two more of the tigers. They were too close to the girls for him to use the wind tunnel in his hand. "Kagome, Sango!" He shouted.

"Any ideas Sango?" Kagome asked.

"No, if they'd have let me I would've grabbed something to protect ourselves with." Sango said angrily.

"Ok then plan B." Kagome knelt down and picked up two rocks. "I'm going to throw these and distract them. Run to Miroku and I'll go to Inuyasha."

"What no that's too dangerous!" But it was too late. Kagome had thrown the rocks and the youkai growled at her.

"Kagome you idiot what are you doing?" Inuyasha saw what she had done but was too late to stop her from doing it.

She kept running but eventually was back up against one of the villager's huts. They had stopped running and were slowly making their way to her. Kagome looked around to find any kind of weapon. There was a bow and arrow near her and she counted herself lucky since she'd taken archery in high school. Picking it up she notched an arrow and aimed at the one on the left. Even if she could hit it there was no telling it would stop it and she wouldn't have enough time to get another arrow for the other one. Hitting one of them was better than nothing and Kagome released the arrow.

The arrow flew towards them and a white light began surrounding the tip. When it hit the youkai on the left it roared in pain and the white light had consumed it completely and dispersed leaving no trace other than the arrow that fell onto the ground. "What the hell?" Kagome looked at the bow in her hand but was quickly reminded of the other youkai as it took off in a sprint towards her.

She closed her eyes tightly waiting for the impact and pain but was grabbed by the shoulders instead and when she opened her eyes she saw Inuyasha staring at her obviously mad. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He yelled. "That thing could have killed you!"

"I had to do something! You can't always expect us girls to be weak and defenseless this is exactly what happens." Kagome shouted.

The pack of youkai had been defeated and the villagers stared at the group as they got together. The villager that was yelling at them earlier had approached them again. "Thank you for helping the village." He murmured and walked away.

"What he really wants to say is thank you and sorry for accusing you of associating with those youkai." An elderly man stepped up to them. "My grandson Hansuke is very proud and does his best to help the village. Sometimes he can be so stubborn and blinded. I'm Masato I hope you will accept our invitation and stay in the village, to thank you for your help. We insist."

"That's very kind of you." Rin smiled.

"I'll show you to the inn." Masato escorted them to one of the inns. "Our accommodations aren't of the highest standards. It's not often we get visitors especially youkai ones. My grandson has it in his head that all youkai are evil but you'll have to excuse his way of thinking. He lost both of his parents when he was young. The last two rooms are for you. Natsumi will bring you dinner and draw your baths. Please don't hesitate to ask if you need something."

"Thank you for everything." Miroku said.

"That was a bit unexpected." Sango said as they all filed into one room together. They would part later that night when they laid to sleep.

"Seems no where we go is safe right now and we haven't even been traveling for a week!" Shippo fell onto his back. He ran around the entire village with Rin while she examined the villagers. Even for a youkai he was exhausted. He had no clue how Rin was able to run around that much without passing out.

"At least no one was injured too seriously." Rin moved into a cross legged position.

Kagome managed to sneak away from the group while they were talking and walked outside to get some air. She looked down at her hands confused at what happened earlier when she shot the arrow. It had glowed and she managed to defeat the youkai. Maybe the miko thing had some credit. But if she was one then how come she didn't know about it earlier? How had the power suppressed itself inside of her?

The floorboards creaked behind her and she spun around to see Hansuke. He stood beside her and looked up at the night sky. "I'm sorry about my comment to you. I meant no harm, but the village has been attacked many times and more frequently it seems." He turned towards her and grabbed her hands. "I hope that you'll forgive me and accept my apology."

"Of course." She smiled hesitantly. "I could understand your doing it for the good of the village."

"Yes, and I noticed you were a miko." He held her hands tighter and took a step forward. "You would be a great asset if you could stay in the village."

"I can't stay here." Kagome tried to take her hands away but Hansuke wouldn't let go. "I can't leave my friends."

"But your powers can help protect the village. I'll protect you and make sure you don't get hurt." Before Hansuke could say any more he was slammed against the wall of the inn with a clawed hand around his throat.

"I suggest you back off and leave her alone. She's mine." Inuyasha growled and dropped the man to his feet.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome hit his shoulder. "I'm sorry Hansuke."

"Don't protect him!" Inuyasha shouted as Hansuke left.

"You're not helping change anyone's opinion about youkai if you go around choking people! He didn't do anything to me and I don't remember agreeing to be yours. This is one of the reasons I didn't want us to be together anymore. Your jealousy drives me insane."

"I can't help fighting my instincts Kagome. You belong with me and nothing will stop me from thinking that." He brushed his hand gently over the bruise around her neck. "It drives me crazy when you get hurt or when other men touch you."

"Inuyasha when we were together did I ever give you any reason to think I was unfaithful? Did I ever flirt with anyone? No, because I was happy with you. And if you trusted me enough then you wouldn't get so jealous all the time. I never left you for anyone else or even thought about it but you couldn't get it through your head." Kagome sighed.

"I never thought you were going to cheat on me." Inuyasha pulled her in for a hug. "But it still drives me crazy when you get too close to someone else."

"Inuyasha why do you want us to be together again?" Kagome looked up at him. "What made you change so that you're more committed now than before?"

"I was just too comfortable where we were and when you asked me it threw me off. Being apart made me realize how fucking stupid I was for letting you go." He leaned in to kiss her and for the first time since they had gotten to the past it felt like things were okay. But then Inuyasha's stomach rumbled with hunger.

Kagome laughed and grabbed his hand. "Come on lets get something to eat. You youkai have to eat well since us women can't do anything to protect ourselves."

"You need to stop trying to get yourself fucking killed!" Inuyasha stopped in the hallway. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"We had to do something! Besides I killed one of them."

"You guys should probably stop yelling in the hallways and get in here so we can discuss it." Miroku poked his head outside of the room. "They brought dinner already."

"Kagome is indeed a miko." Sesshomaru said as they sat down. "She purified that youkai and without any training means she could be quite powerful."

"It feels like we're getting off track with what happened in the last couple of days." Kagome sighed. "Things are getting way too complicated."

"We'll be fine as long as we know what we need to do. Finding the temple is our goal right now. There were just a few distractions." Kouga shrugged. "We can't help that."

They finished their meals and after a few minutes of settling the innkeeper knocked and entered the room. "We've drawn baths for you and as you requested there are enough for three different groups."

"I suppose we'll bathe and then go to sleep. We'll take the room at the end of the hallway." Sango said.

The girls were taken to one of the baths. The innkeeper opened the paper door and waited for them to get in before she closed it. "I forget that these are paper thin walls." Rin smiled as she slowly lowered herself into the bath.

"No kidding, we can hear you in there." Kouga said.

"The baths must be right next to each other." Sango looked around at the walls before being satisfied that they couldn't see through the walls and joined Rin and Kagome. "Before we leave this village I think we need weapons."

"We don't use weapons." Kouga stated.

"Not you, but us humans." Sango narrowed her eyes in the direction she could hear the voice. "We can't always have someone protecting us. You saw how well it worked today. And I'm not saying Miroku did anything wrong. I would've much preferred he protected those children. Kagome and I could be doing something too."

"What kind of training have you had, anything in self defense?" Kouga asked.

"Actually yes." Sango said as a matter of fact. "If you'd have asked earlier instead of assuming I would've told you I've had training with a katana. My father owns a dojo and I learned a few things while I was there. Kagome has shown some skill with a bow and arrow."

"Yes, but that was in high school." Kagome looked at her.

"Then we'll just have to practice and if you guys weren't so thick headed you could help us train." Sango said. "We've all seen the dangers and we can't expect one of you guys to be around us and watch."

"Where do you expect we get these weapons?" Kouga asked. "We don't have money from here."

"We'll discuss it in the morning." Sesshomaru silenced the group. They spent the rest of the bath in silence and parted into their rooms for sleep. "I'll take watch tonight."

The guys nodded in agreement and they laid down to rest.


End file.
